About us

Join us in the forests of Sky Lake Shambhala Meditation Center for the Labor Day weekend. We’ll reconnect with our senses in this landscape of trees and rocks and experience the restorative effects that connection brings through sensory practices, mindfulness meditation, and movement. This green, fertile world of sky, water, pines and friends will restore and balance us.

Many of us find that we have lost our direct relationship to the earth – our home- and that this relationship has become frayed and even missing in this age of digital connections and speed. In this hands on sensory weekend, we will reconnect with our own biology using the tools of mindfulness meditation, qigong and sensory practices which will help us to restore our balance. We can experience a renewal based on connecting with the trees, rocks, sky and each other in this amazing landscape.

About the
Venue and Teacher

Nestled in a forest of tall cedars and white pines on the northern crest of the Shawangunk Mountains, Sky Lake is a Shambhala contemplative center for meditation, arts and community. It is part of an international community of meditation centers founded by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and now led by his son and lineage holder Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche.Just two hours north of Manhattan in the Mid-Hudson River Valley, the Lodge has a contemplative, peaceful ambience and is a genuine haven from the rigors of urban life. You can walk in our woods, enjoy extraordinary hiking trails at nearby Mohonk Preserve, scale the Gunks or take a stroll around our spring-fed pond.

Shastri Donna Williams has taught Shambhala Training Levels for the past 35 years both in the US and in Chile and is involved in teaching Contemplative Ecology and practicing plant-based textile arts. She lives in Vermont where she gardens, growing dye plants, apples, raspberries and raising bees.

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Why Retreat?

We asked people why they go on retreat, here's what they said:

Desire to learn more meditation practices, spend more time in spiritual community.
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Retreat Guru's Vision

We believe human beings are innately wise, strong and kind. This wisdom, although not always experienced, is always present. Going on retreat is a beautiful way to reconnect to our basic sanity and health. Our aspiration at Retreat Guru is to inspire people to experience authentic retreats and reconnect with their innate wisdom, strength and kindness.